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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

SOMEBODY STOP ME!

SOMEBODY STOP ME BEFORE I TAKE A HATCHET TO AMERICAN GIRL!

Not only are the completely RUINING my childhood, they are setting themselves up to completely FAIL! At least, that is my deepest wish.

Once upon a time, American Girl was a company dedicated to teaching girls about history. They came out with quality dolls, quality books, and quality outfits that accurately portrayed the time period that the girl came from. (Not to mention that the company also explored the color pallete and deviated from something other than PINK.)

Now... ARGH! I am so angry, angry, angry.
"Historical" is too complicated and old fashioned a word, so American Girl has decided to rename their Historical dolls "BeForever" dolls.
Okay, first of all, "BeForever" isn't actually a real word... Second of all, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with history!

But that's not it...
They are retiring Marie-Grace and Cecile who, pardon me, only came out TWO years ago! Also, they are retiring Ruthie and Ivy. No more best friend dolls! Oh no. Because it today's society, it's not good to have friends. No, alienate yourself! Become best friends with the internet! Don't make friends! No, that would be weakness! (Okay, maybe that's not the reason they are getting rid of Ruthie and Ivy...)

That's not the worst part...
THEY ARE GETTING RID OF THE BOOKS!
YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT!
THEY ARE GETTING RID OF THE AMERICAN GIRL DOLL HISTORICAL BOOKS!
Oh, not completely, of course... Instead, they are going to CONDENSE the six books (which are already only what, five chapters long? Oh yes, that's way too long) into THREE.

And they are changing the outfits too, oh I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? Into LESS historical outfits!
Just look at Addy's... Does that dress look like something a former SLAVE girl would wear during the CIVIL WAR?

A CLUE, NO! (And, by the way, that poor shawl totally doesn't go with the rich, royal blue fabric)

And here's another outrage...
Remember a few years ago when we received the devastating news that Samantha, the beloved favorite, and one of the original three dolls, was going to retire?
Guess what? She's coming back!
In American Girl's Email they basically said... "Oh, by the way, Samantha Parkington will be coming back too."

THIS article tells you more about the change. I agree with almost everything the person has to say.

ARGH.
Partly because of the changes, partly because it was so unexpected! Any warning? No! None what so ever! There were rumors, evidently, but I didn't hear any of them.

Well, American Girl, I have been a loyal customer for about ten years now. No longer. You have lost my business. I am completely fed up with the way you are botching the history of our country with your so-called "historical dolls" - ahem, I'm sorry... "BEFOREVER dolls." Your decision to get rid of the books has totally and completely made me lose the last shred of respect I had for you.

I've gone from being furious to wanting to throw up to crying.
American Girl used to be a company of integrity that cared more about teaching girls about the history of our country, about being polite, about caring for people, even about God. Since Pleasant Company was bought by Mattel, those morals have slowly begun to wobble, and now, I believe, they have completely toppled from their perch.

I'm gonna have to get my collection of Addy's original books before they disappear forever. Good thing I started collecting the books when I did. Someone really needs to talk to the managers of American Girl. I hope they don't change the name to something other than "American" just because of what the founding fathers of America believed. BUT. It would be really cool if there were European Girl books out there...